January 6, 2011 10:15 PM

What an awesome day!  Even with jet lag!  I could never have imagined experiencing the events and places which I did today.  After breakfast, we ventured to Giza where we toured the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and some other ancient ruins in Cairo.  The pyramids were amazing!  Our guide, whose name I can't even begin to pronounce...let alone spell...has been awesome as he has shared the rich history of ancient Egypt. Just a tid-bit of information... One of the pyramids we visited is constructed of over 2 million stones...each weighing between 1-2 tons.  It's hard to fathom that the Egyptians built this incredible monuments without the technology we're so dependent upon today.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Center for Political and Strategic Studies and meet with Dr. Dena Shahtah, Senior Researcher.  This is a government "think-tank" which works with continual development of the Egyptian political system.  We had a great conversation with her as she gave us a history of the Egyptian political system and issues which currently are affecting Egypt.

Following our time at CPSS we ate lunch on a boat on the Nile River.  While it wasn't the best lunch in the world...just the experience of eating on the Nile River made the food not seem too bad!

Following lunch, we toured the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and then returned to our hotel for dinner and just a free night to do whatever.

Tomorrow we continue in our journey to Saqqara where we will visit the Step Pyramid and to Dashur to visit the Red Pyramid and Bent Pyramid. 

All in all we have found the Egyptian people to be very friendly and welcoming.  Cairo is the second largest city in the world with 22 million people.  Traffic is horrendous!  There are no traffic lanes to speak of....I'm just glad I'm not driving our bus.  A police presence is felt everywhere we go...bearing their Uzi's.  But we are assured we're safe.

Well....until tomorrow! 

Jeff